Portrait of Osan and Mohei

Osan and Mohei, the ill-fated lovers from Ihara Saikaku's 1686 novel "Five Women Who Loved Love," appear together in this 1941 oban woodblock print. Their story of forbidden passion between a merchant's wife and his apprentice ends in tragedy, a narrative that appealed to Settai's literary sensibility and his talent for conveying emotional complexity through figure composition. The paired portrait format allows Settai to explore the relationship between the two figures through proximity, gaze, and gesture. As a lifelong illustrator of Japanese literature, Settai brought an interpretive depth to literary subjects that went beyond mere depiction, using visual means to suggest the psychological tension and social constraint that drive Saikaku's narrative.